God Is Listening—Tell Him What You Want (1 Tim. 2:1-3)
Much worry in our lives needs to be and can be replaced by prayer: “Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:6-7).
Life without Safety Goggles
“In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.” (Judges 17:6, NIV) I opened the sports page this morning and saw that the Houston Astros won the American League Divisional Series, sweeping the Cleveland Indians. That wasn’t what caught my attention. It was the accompanying photo. The photo showed a typical […]
Devotion to Prayer and to Each Other (Col. 4)
I’m dealing with several issues today that require more wisdom, maturity, and insight than I have. As Paul said, “Who is adequate for these things?” (2 Cor. 2:16) … Then I opened today’s chapter, and God showed me three things I can do to make it easier for Him to meet me in these places of need…
Praying for Revival
“To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that […]
Forgiving Others Ain’t Easy
“The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.“ (Luke 17:5-6, NIV) We just love that verse, don’t we?! The disciples utter a beautiful […]
How to Pray
““This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name…” (Matthew 6:9, NIV) We started a new sermon series last week and we’re looking at the spiritual disciplines Jesus taught his disciples. One of the more important ones is prayer. When Jesus was asked by one of the twelve: […]
Always Pray and Never Give Up
“…always pray and not give up.“ (Luke 18:1, NIV) In our sermon series, Action Heroes, we will meet the Shunnamite woman in 2 Kings 4 this week. Give it a quick read – it’s a great story and she’s a real firecracker. [Spoiler Alert!] Her son dies and she wants Elisha to resurrect him…so she […]
Bullets and Bears
“From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some youths came out of the town and jeered at him. “Go on up, you baldhead!” they said. “Go on up, you baldhead!” He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the […]
25 Years and Counting
“[Love] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.“ (1 Corinthians 13:7, NKJV) The other day, Christine and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. TWENTY-FIVE. Can’t believe it’s been that long…can’t believe we are that old! So many friends congratulated us and said very kind things about our marriage. Thank you. […]
A Spiritual Battle
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12, NIV) “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine […]
He is Here
“He is here: the One who forms the mountains, creates the wind, and reveals His thoughts to man, the One who makes the dawn out of darkness and strides on the heights of the earth. Yahweh, the God of Hosts, is His name.“ (Amos 4:13, HCSB) The Lord spoke this to my heart on Monday […]
Walking with God
“…that I may walk before the Lord in the land of the living.” (Psalm 116:9, NIV) Psalm 116 is a beautiful Psalm. Take a minute or two today and read it. It begins with the psalmist in trouble: “The cords of death entangle me… (v. 3).” It ends with him toasting God (v. 13) and […]
